Page 5 of Where the River Meets the Skye

Skye did his best to relax his shoulders and closed his eyes. Moments later he felt the knot start to loosen. He let out a deep breath and hung his head as River’s expert hands moved further up his traps. God, it felt good. River’s hands were strong and warm, and soft, and they were practically putting Skye to sleep.

“God, River, you have magic hands,” he murmured as he felt them on both sides of his upper back now, and the base of his neck, releasing tension he hadn't even realized he’d been carrying.

“I take it you’re feeling better, then?”

Skye nodded, but just barely. He was really starting to doze off now.

“I think we need to get you to bed.” River’s hands left Skye’s back once again, and the other man stood. He reached down and grabbed Skye’s arm, pulling him to his feet. Skye didn’t even care that he was tenting in his pants from the massage. He’d received his share of massages from River over the years and knew it was normal. He wobbled a little bit but River kept him steady as he walked Skye to his room and tucked him into bed.

“Thanks, Riv,” Skye mumbled into his pillow, almost incoherently as River turned off the bedside lamp.

“Goodnight, Skye,” River said, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

CHAPTER 2

Skye

Skye wasn’t sure how much later it was when he woke to a warm body sidling up next to him, and River’s strong arm draped over his waist. The other man buried his nose in Skye’s neck, and Skye became immediately more alert when he felt River trembling against him, his breath hitching.

Fuck.

Skye sat up and turned on the lamp on his nightstand. When he looked over at his roommate, his heart shattered at the sight of the tears sliding down River’s cheeks.

“Hey.” Skye’s voice was soft as he laid down and pulled River to him. The other man’s body shook as he sobbed.

River didn’t share Skye’s bed very often but when he did it was because he’d had another nightmare. They were less frequent now than they had been in college, but they still happened and he had a tough time getting back to sleep afterwards. Skye had told his friend a long time ago that he could wake him when he was having a hard time. River hated to do it because he didn’t want to inconvenience Skye or make him lose sleep, but Skye didn’t give a fuck about that. And he’d never seen his roommate as an inconvenience, even with all of his struggles and heartache. He just wanted River to be okay.

“I’m so sorry,” he said as he held his friend and ran his fingers through his dark hair. “You’re safe, angel.” His heart ached for his best friend. And his anger returned every single time he thought about what those bastards had done to him. How they had robbed him, humiliated him, violated him, in the worst possible way.

Skye couldn’t think of anyone more worthy or deserving of everything good the world had to offer than River. River deserved peace, joy, and hope in abundance. He deserved love. He deserved the sun, the moon and all the stars.

His roommate had a history, one that burdened him and was not of his choosing. There were a lot of scars there. Deep ones. Ones that might never fade. But Skye did what he could, when he could, to make sure River knew that he was there for him. So now, he held him and let him cry, let him feel, let him grieve what had been taken from him all those years ago.

TEN YEARS AGO

“So, your aunt seems pretty nice,” Skye said. It was mid October and he and River were sitting on their beds, facing each other, both working on class assignments. “Do you live with her?” River’s aunt Jodi had just left a few hours earlier after visiting for Parent’s Weekend and had headed back to Cincinnati.

“Yeah, since I was ten,” River replied.

Skye hesitated before asking, “Are your parents around?”

There was a long pause and Skye was afraid he’d put his foot in his mouth. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. Sometimes my mouth just runs away with me.”

“No, it’s okay.” River seemed a little hesitant but his eyes met Skye’s. “They died in a car accident when I was ten. I went to live with my aunt after that.”

“Oh, shit. That must have been hard. I know how tough it was losing my dad. I can’t imagine losing both of my parents.”

“Yeah, it sucked pretty bad.” River let out a heavy breath. “Still does sometimes.”

“Do you like living with your aunt, though? She seems pretty cool.”

River gave him a soft smile. “I mean, I would have preferred my parents, but yeah, she is pretty cool. It was hard, though, moving to Cincinnati. I grew up around here and once my parents died I had to move away from everything I’d known, start over in a new school and everything, new church. That was hard. I really missed my friends.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. You made new friends, though, right?” Skye couldn’t imagine River not having friends. The guy was funny, kind, and compassionate. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with him?

River shrugged. “A few. But it wasn’t easy. I was kinda nerdy, and quiet. Didn’t always fit in. And I really missed my parents so I think the emotional struggle of that just made it harder for me to connect with other kids. I didn’t want to talk about it, and they didn’t really understand. Kinda made me more of an outcast. I got really depressed, actually.” He tapped his pencil on his notebook and bit his lower lip, his gaze not meeting Skye’s. River was definitely what Skye would consider shy, but Skye had managed to bring him out of his shell a bit already and really enjoyed talking to him. It sounded like he hadn’t had it easy though, and that unsettled Skye.

“But you’re better now?” he asked, hopefully. He hated the idea of River suffering, hurting. They’d had their share of deep conversations and they’d grown pretty close in the short time they’d known each other. But this was the first time they had talked about River’s family and his past. Skye had no idea his roommate had been through so much as a kid.

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